Fresh off Bloomberg wires...
Cocaine Traces Discovered in Roman Air, Pollution Study Shows
2007-06-01 08:56 (New York)
By Sheyam Ghieth
Romans are living with cocaine in their air, and in their noses, according to a report that found traces of the drug in the city's atmosphere. Parts of the Italian capital have a pulverized cocaine concentration of as much as 0.1 nanograms per cubic meter,according to the report, released yesterday by the Italian National Research Council. The study also found trace elements of cannabis in the air. The area with the highest airborne concentration of cocaine is near La Sapienza University, where ``consumption and dealingof cocaine is probably most widespread,'' the report's authors said. ``Cocaine has become a common pollutant,'' chemical researcher Roberto Fanelli told Italian daily la Repubblica. Fanelli was part of a group of researchers who found that the equivalent of 4 kilograms of cocaine floats down the Po River every day. La Repubblica reported today that nine out of 10 bank notes in Italy reveal traces of cocaine, though not all have been used to ``snort'' it, the newspaper said.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Ah, this reminds me of a brief article I read in Wired. In full:
---
Drug War Gets Dirtier as What You Flush Becomes Evidence
Think twice before you flush the toilet. You might be sending evidence straight to the authorities — at least if you're getting high in Italy or Switzerland. Scientists there recently did a study in which they tracked narcotic use through municipal sewage systems. Twice a day, at weekly intervals, wastewater was spirited out of treatment plants in Milan and Lugano, dried with a blast of nitrogen, then injected into a mass spectrometer to detect illicit substances. They kept tabs on methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and morphine use for five months. What did they learn? Not surprisingly, meth and cocaine use spiked on Fridays and Saturdays. Overall, drug consumption was nearly double official estimates, which relied on crime data and interviews. It seems people are reluctant to disclose weekend binges. Now they don't have to. It'll all come out in the end.
Post a Comment